Learn to Fly
by Aeris Ultimavara
Summary: ..."All it really takes is just letting go of your fears, and then everything turns out fine." Shirley tutors Lelouch in his worst subject at school.


**Author's Notes: **I wrote this back in December as a Secret Santa present for lalita_b over at the Lelouch x Shirley livejournal community. It takes place in a semi-alternate R2 world, where some elements of R2 are missing, but most of them are the same. **  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Code Geass or its characters. They belong to Sunrise. I only write about them to promote awareness of this awesome show.

* * *

"And that's all there is to it," Shirley called, her breath a trail of mist behind her as she jogged past a row of neatly arranged track hurdles, back to the spot where Lelouch waited for her, looking as if he would rather be anywhere else in the world.

"Do you want to give it a try?"

"Do I...have to?" he asked miserably, crossing his arms tightly over his chest, though whether this was because of the cold or his own embarrassment she couldn't tell.

"Only if you don't want to fail phys-ed." she replied brightly, trying to erase the frown from his face.

Coach Villetta Nu had privately asked Shirley to tutor Lelouch in what was obviously his worst subject, but the one in which Shirley excelled. This Villetta knew thanks to her time spent coaching Shirley on the swim team. She also knew how hard Shirley would work to help the boy, having experienced firsthand, and rather painfully at that, just what she was willing to do to help Lelouch out of a tough spot.

Remembering that he had once been her enemy, Villetta had wondered whether she shouldn't just let him fail. But she couldn't stand to see laziness in anyone, and so was determined to see him pass her gym class. And if anyone could make that happen, it was Shirley.

"Come on Vice Prez, you can do it!" came a cheery voice from the distance. "Show those hurdles who's boss!"

"Now I've got an audience? Lelouch muttered, seeing Milly, Rivalz, Anya, Gino, Kallen and Nina trouping into the deserted bleachers lining the track on which he and Shirley stood.

"Oh, sorry about this, Lulu," Shirley said apologetically. "I thought we'd have the place to ourselves since it's so cold out. But what can you do? That's the Prez for you."

Lelouch only shrugged a shoulder and looked down at the ground, his long hair hiding his eyes.

Shirley didn't know how to respond to that, so she simply carried on as if nothing was wrong.

"So" she said, "Do you think you can try at least one?"

He still didn't answer, instead only kicking at the red gravel beneath him with the toe of his shoe.

She had never seen him like this before - he was usually so cool and collected, and always seemed to have everything under control. For him to be so totally at a loss as to how to handle a situation - it just made her want to reach out and hug him to make it all go away. To help him fight whatever demon was plaguing him. Even one so ultimately inconsequential as passing a simple gym class.

Without bothering to stop herself, she reached her and out and placed it under his chin, lifting it up so that he he looked her in the eyes.

"Need to see it done one more more time?" she asked, and he nodded mutely, though he looked strangely terrified, as if he expected her to ask something much worse of him.

"Oh, Shirley, why did you do that?" she scolded herself as she moved into position at the starting block. "You just scared him out of his mind there with that little move."

"Show 'em how it's done, coach!" Milly's voice floated to her on the wind.

"Right," Shirley nodded, and sprang forward, eager to run, to shake off the anxiety and self-doubt that had begun to eat at her, as it so often did when she was around Lelouch.

"Show 'em how it's done," she repeated in her head, and strained forward, springing off of one leg, extending the other out over the first hurdle, and hitting the ground hard with her heel.

"That's right. This is something I'm good at," she thought in satisfaction. "I know just what to do, and I don't have to worry or feel stupid or wonder if I'm doing the right thing. And why should I worry about it, anyway?" she thought as she cleared the next hurdle, and the accompanying rush of adrenaline filled her body. "I haven't done anything wrong. Lulu felt bad, and I was only trying to help him out. I'm just helping a friend who needs it. And Coach Villetta did ask me to, so I can't let her down." And soon, Shirley ceased to even notice the hurdles as she leapt over them, so caught up was she in her thoughts.

"I have nothing to apologize for!" she concluded happily, as she sailed cleanly over the last obstacle and landed triumphantly back on the track.

Lelouch watched her do it in astonishment, marvelling at the graceful way she practically floated on the air, her legs lifting her high, high above ground. He'd never really noticed how long they were before - funny, considering he saw her in her Ashford skirt every day, and had seen her in her swim team suit more than a few times, and both of these articles of clothing revealed far more than the grey windpants she now wore, which covered her from hip to ankle.

Maybe it was the confidence, and he almost wanted to say joy, with which she now worked them, extending them resolutely ahead as if she knew exactly what she wanted and where she was going, smiling all the way like it was the best and easiest thing in the world.

"You make it look so...simple," he said as she returned to his side, still wearing that bright smile.

"It is simple," she said, and a thought occurred to her. "But do you know what the simplest part is? You just have to stop worrying about what you're going to do, and let yourself go for it. The more you think about it, the worse it gets."

"Huh..." Lelouch had never considered, even for a day, not analyzing every possible variable of every situation he ever found himself in. How could anyone survive that way, without knowing what was coming next? But, he now had to admit, some people apparently could, since Shirley was the one out there jumping hurdles like a circus pony and he was the one only wishing he could do so well.

"Knowing you," Shirley continued, "you're probably trying to figure out the necessary force, and the right angle of the trajectory, and the effect of the pull of gravity and all of that. But all it really takes is just letting go of your fears, and then everything will turn out fine."

At first, she didn't quite know where such a motivational speech had come from. Usually, she was the one being lectured by Milly about how to be more confident in life. But something about all the exercise...the rush of the sprint, the terrifying thrill of hanging, suspended in midair for those few brief seconds, the way her stomach always dropped as she reached the top of the arc, and the solid, hard crunch of the gravel as she came back down, telling her that she made it safely - all of these filled her with a kind of giddy boldness that she had rarely, if ever, felt before.

When she ran, when she jumped those hurdles, with the cold air quickening and catching in her throat and the wind blowing her hair out behind her, she felt like she was flying. She felt like she was lifted far above the cares of the rest of the world, to a place where nothing could touch her. Not her worries over what she was going to do with her feelings for Lelouch, not the nagging fear of rejection that chased her every time she tried to make her feelings known. Nothing.

It wasn't like when she competed in swim meets. Not like the diving, where she plummeted down, down, down to the cold, empty depths. It wasn't like swimming laps, where she constantly had to fight just to keep her head above water. Constantly had to fight just to find air to breathe, and where, at every second the world threatened to close in and suffocate her.

No. When she ran she could forget it all, overcoming her problems as easily as she cleared the hard plastic bars that loomed in front of her. Or at least she could today, anyway. Because today she was the one in charge, and Lelouch was the one who needed her to set his world aright. And that was a strange, new, wonderful feeling.

"So what do you say? Are you ready to try it yourself now?" she asked when she had once more reached his side. Lelouch gave her another frightened glance when he heard the question, but this time Shirley knew how to answer it.

"It'll be okay," she assured him. "And who would rather have to do it in front of - Coach Villetta or me?"

He knew she meant to imply that it would be worse having Villetta watch him, for Villetta always looked with a critical eye and didn't hesitate to list every mistake out for her students in detail. But as Lelouch remembered the curve of Shirley's long, slender legs, the easy grace with which she floated off the ground, the blissful smile which spread across her features as she glided in space, and the sure, proud step with which she descended back to earth, made him not at all sure who he would be more embarrased to showcase his complete physical ineptitude in front of.

"Better hurry. You're starting to get red from the cold," Shirley spoke up again, noticing the color that shaded his cheeks, but not guessing the true reason behind it. "The sooner you show me you can do it, the sooner you can go inside. Now come on, you can do it," she said, getting behind him and gently pushing him towards the block, and, upon deposting him there, trotting back to the finish line.

"Okay, now on my signal, you know what to do. I'll be right here waiting on the other side," she called. "And remember, don't worry! Just go for it!"

Amidst the claps, cheers, and whistles which began to rise from the stands, she raised her arm high above her head. "Ready..."

"Stop worrying..." Lelouch whispered, trying to focus through the din of the student council, and that of his own thoughts.

"Set..."

"Just let yourself go for it. Just meet her on the other side..."

"Go!"

And then, despite almost every fiber of his being wishing fervently against it, he was off, racing towards the first hurdle, his brow furrowed and his mouth set in a hard, determined line.

Shirley could see he was going to that place where he brooded and mulled and overanalyzed everything, and she feared the worst as he neared the first jump, but no - by some miracle he made it! Though she noticed his knee did scrape the bar as he passed.

"Loosen up!" she shouted, though she couldn't help clapping her hands in excitement.

And it was on to the next stretch of track, his face losing some of its hardness and his back getting a bit more relaxed at her bidding.

"Nice form!" she called as he, once again, somehow managed to jump the next hurdle, and even did it without the fault. "Really, it is good," she thought. "It's just been that mental block keeping him back."

But soon, she saw the same effect beginning to take hold of him that had so affected her. The thrill of the race, the sensation of flying - his awkwardness seemed to be melting away in the face of them, and she thought she might have seen a hint of a smile on his lips.

And suddenly, before anyone realized it had happened, he was finished, and she found him standing, a little unsteadily, next to her, looking totally bewildered, as if he couldn't quite register what he'd just done.

"Congratulations, Lelouch Lamperouge," came a voice from out of nowhere. The pair turned to see Villetta walking towards them, scribbling something onto the clipboard she carried in her hand. "You've just passed your physical education exam. And Fenette, good work," she said drily, before turning and sauntering away into the distance again without even waiting for a reaction.

There was one speechless second in which the two gaped at each other in disbelief, before Shirley let out a small shriek and grabbed his hands in hers, shaking them up and down joyfully.

"You did it, Lulu! You passed! I'm so happy I could just - "

"That's our VP!"

"Congratulations!"

Cries from the others interrupted her as they poured out of the stands and onto the track, cheering and crowding around the teacher and her pupil.

"Not bad for an old man," Gino grinned, receiving a swat from Kallen as a result. But Lelouch didn't mind the wisecrack. He was too amazed that he'd actually been able to do it. If it hadn't been for Shirley, he knew he wouldn't have stood a chance.

"Thanks, but it's really this one who deserves the credit," he gestured over to her, feeling a swell of gratitude for the girl who had gone out of her way to be there for him. And not just today, he realized, but always. She had always been willing to help him in whatever small way she could, whether it was doing paperwork for Milly, or picking out costumes for all of her wild parties, or even just lending a sympathetic ear when he needed someone to complain to. He had never noticed how much he had grown to depend on all of these little ministries until today, when she had been the only thing standing between him and disaster.

"Three cheers for Shirley and three cheers for Lelouch!" Rivalz cheered.

"Hooray!" they all shouted together. Lelouch joined happilly in, glancing over at her with that gentle smile - the one that always made her want to melt right into his arms.

_...I have nothing to apologize for..._

"Hooray!" he raised their still-intertwined hands triumphantly in the air.

_...a place where no problem could touch her..._

_....You just have to let go of your fears, and everything will be fine..._

"Hooray for - mmpph ...!"

Lelouch was unable to finish the last cheer due to the fact that Shirley, to his utter shock, had unexpectedly taken the liberty to otherwise occupy his mouth.

As epic declarations of love go, the act was very brief and very innocent. But it was by far the bravest thing Shirley had ever done, and was certainly more than Lelouch knew what to do with. But luckily for him, she broke away first, smiling up into the face which burned bright red, able to feel the heat which quite literally radiated from it despite the icy wind which had picked up around them. But for all Lelouch's awkwardness, she noticed he did not let go of her hand.

For his part, Lelouch knew he was a total novice when it came to these things, but he was smart enough to know a good thing when it was two inches in front of his face. And this was why, though he could only pray he was going about it the right way, he closed the distance between them once again, kissing her back like he didn't know or care that everyone was watching. And in that moment, he didn't.

"Whooo!! Well, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!" Gino crowed loudly and gleefully, breaking the silence which pure surprise had brought upon the group. Kallen, looking mortified, quickly yanked him down by his arm and clamped a hand tightly over his mouth.

"He means well," she smiled weakly, her own face going a slight shade of pink. "And you two are very sweet. I guess he just couldn't control himself. But really, congratulations," she said before going back to twisting the tall boy's ear.

"Oh my..." Nina said, not knowing whether to be more surprised at what had passed between Lelouch and Shirley, or at the strength with which Kallen was currently restraining Gino.

"Recorded," said Anya.

"Way to go, buddy," Rivalz clapped Lelouch on the back.

"I'm impressed," Milly nudged Shirley knowingly, and Gino, who Kallen had finally relented to release, swept all of them into a bear hug.

"Well, missy," Milly said to her friend as Gino's arms shoved them closer together. "If I had known it would bring this out of you, I would've advised you to go out for track a long time ago!"

But Shirley didn't mind not knowing sooner. She knew now that she couldn't depend on anyone else to make her dreams come true for her. She had to reach out and take them for herself. And she realized Lelouch hadn't been the only one to learn something today. Today, she had learned to fly.


End file.
